Non-flooding fountain pen



Nov. 20, 1956 B. F. MlEssN'ER NoN-FLOODING FOUNTAIN PEN 2 Sheets-Sheet l y Filed April 6, 1954' lll lll/lll l Il.

Nov. 20, 1956 B. F. MII-:ssNER NoN-FLOODING FOUNTAIN PEN 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 6, 1954 United States Patent O NON-FLOODING FOUNTAIN PEN Benjamin F. Miessner, Morristown, N. J.

Application April 6, 1954, Serial No. 421,300

7 Claims. (Cl. 1Z0-48) This invention relates to the construction of a fountain pen wherein the results of many experiments over several years and contact and use with many types of pens heretofore designed as disclosed in many publications such as patents, has led me to design a fountain pen having numerous advantages as will be brought out in the specification which follows and shown in the accompanying drawings.

One of the objects of my present invention is to provide a construction wherein the flow of ink from the ink reservoir can be positively controlled so that there will will be no leakage of the ink out around the pen point and cap regardless of the way the pen is carried by the user, whether it be carried in a handbag or in a breast pocket either in point up or point down position in hot or cold weather or subjected to great variations in volumetric pressure such as encountered in an airplane or submarine. Another object of my invention is to provide a construction in which control heretofore referred to is brought about by a construction which carries with it means for indicating the position of the parts which govern the control. A further object of my invention is to provide improved means for attaining a relatively large collector space associated with the pen point preferably of the split nib type whereby the pen point in operation is always kept ink-wetted and the pen is capable of writing several pages from one filling of the collector spaces associated with the pen point. Another object of my invention is to provide means for easily and quickly filling the collector spaces with ink after any filling is used up. These and other objects of my invention will be readily understood and appreciated from the specification which follows taken in connection with the annexed drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a sectional view through one form of my invention.

Figure 2 is a view on the line 2 2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 but showing the parts in a different position of operation.

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure l but showing the addition of certain details not shown in the previous figures.

Figure 5 is a view of the central portion of Figure 4 with the control ring in a different position of operation.

Figure 6 is a view of the upper part of Figure 1 on a much enlarged scale to show more clearly the ow of air and ink to the collector portion of the hood.

Figure 7 is a view on the line 7--7 of Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a view on the line 8-8 of Figure 6.

Figure 9 is a sectional view through a modified form of the control valve.

Figure l0 is a longitudinal sectional view through the control valve with the pen cap just in contact with the valve plunger.

Figure l1 is a view similar to Figure l0 but lwith the cap fully on position and the valve closed.

Figure l2 is a view of the inner end of the valve plunger shown in Figures 9-11.

ice

In the various views wherein like numbers refer to corresponding parts, 1 is a hood having a cap 2 and a retaining clip 3 fastened to the cap. To the inner end of the hood 1 is fully attached by press andcement means a barrel 4 preferably being exible transversely but sub stantially rigid longitudinally and which also acts as a main ink reservoir. Fitting at the junction of the inner end of the barrel 4 and the hood 1 is a ring 5 fitting against a shoulder 6 of the hood 1. The ring 5 is so positioned against the shoulder 6 and the inner end of the barrel 4 so as to allow it to be rotatably moved by fingers of a user. The inner surface of the ring 5 has a pair of diametrically positioned arcuately formed recesses 7 and 8 to receive studs or pins 9 and 10, the outer ends of which are rounded to smoothly engage the recesses 7 and 8 as the ring 5 is turned. The inner ends of the studs 9 and 10 have at faces which are in engagement with the outer part of a flexible collector 11 which forms a union between the two branches 12 and 13 of an air and ink tube, the upper end 14 of which terminates preferably in an oval shaped end closely vadjacent the pen nibs. The shank of the pen 15 is seated in a bore in the hood 1 leaving a circular space 16 around the pen shank. The shank of the pen has one or more holes 23 while the tube section 13 has one or more holes 24. There is also a longitudinal space 17 around the tube section 13. This tube has one or more holes 19 adjacent the inner end of the bore 17. The function of these last-mentioned parts will be later described. The outer end of the tube section 12 preferably terminates closely adjacent the inwardly projecting rounded surface 20 of the barrel 4. In the operation of this structure with the parts as shown in Figures l and 3 where the ink can pass from the barrel to the pen nibs. When it is desired to close the valve the ring 5 is turned from its position shown in Figures l and 2 to the position shown in Figure 3 wherein the studs 9 and 10 will be moved out of the recesses 7 and 8 and these studs will act on the flexible valve member 11 to close the valve as shown in Figure 3.

Preferably the hood is marked with three dots or circles with two of them being marked c with a dot o in the center in alignment with a dot d on the ring 5, when the dot d is in alignment with the dot or circle marked o as shown in Figure 4 the -valve is in open position as shown in Figures l and 2 but whether the ring 5 is turned right handed or left handed the studs 9 and 10 will as stated be moved out of the recesses 7 and 8 and the dot d will be in alignment with either one of the dots c indicating to the user that the valve is closed and no more air or ink will be fed through to the pen point until the valve is opened.

As shown in Figure l the cap 2 carries a soft rubber cup like plug at its closed end so that when the cap is in place the pen point will be kept closed to prevent evaporation of the ink and drying it which would clog up the pen nibs, the breather tube and the outer end of the .annular ink collector spaces. Preferably, this rubber cuplike insert is cemented in the cap and preferably inside of this rubber plug is a very soft sponge or foam rubber material 21`should be used so that there is little or no air spaces remaining around these parts when the cap is in place.

I have found after many tests that to get a substantially perfect operating pen that the bore 16 or space around the shank of the pen and the space or bore 22 around the tube 18 and the space 17 around the air and ink tube section 13 should be properly proportioned at about .010 'inch in what might be termed thickness and the bore 22 approximately 11/2 inches long so that they will collaborate with their length to give the best transfer of ink to the pen nibs for various writing pressures applied to the nibs whereby the pen writes either lightly so that the ink dries almost instantly or heavier to make a the barrel it has a plurality of passageways indicated by i the arrows up through the bores and tubes which forms a collector.

I have found that the air and ink tube section 13 should have an outside diameter of approximately .080 inch and an inside diameter of .060 inch and while the section 12 may be of the same diameter as shown in Figure 6 it can be made somewhat smaller. The transverse holes 19 and 24 serve to allow external atmospheric pressure to enter the air and ink tube into the upper end of the inner annular ink collector spaces when the pen is held point down in writing position. This therefore allows free air to replace the ink in the top end of the collector spaces when it is partly filled with ink and the pen held in the warmer hand of the user and point down with the valve open.

In the form of valve control shown in Figures 9-12 the collector 11 is the same as shown in Figure 1 but only one of the studs 25 is used and this has a plurality of anges 26 all as being shown in Figure 12 and these flanges overlap the inner end of the hole in which it is positioned as shown in Figures 9, l and 11. The outer ends of these studs have solid portions 27 which are adapted to be engaged by the rim 28 of the cap 2. While in Figures and l1 the cap is shown as screw threaded onto the valve, it may be pushed on as shown in Figure l and when in the full on position as shown in Figure ll the valve is closed.

While I have given certain dimensions with respect to the air and ink spaces in the collector, which I have found to be satisfactory these may be varied somewhat to meet the size of the pens that are being constructed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

l. A fountain pen having a hood, a barrel defining a main ink reservoir attached thereto, said barrel preferably being exible transversely but substantially rigid longitudinally, the hood carrying a pen point of the split nib type and also having four bores of dierent diameters arranged in tandem alignment in the order of the diameter of the bores, with the widest bore outermost, the pen point having a split tubular shank extending through the largest bore into the next smallest diameter bore and having a close t therein and being spaced from the wall of the largest diameter bore to define an ink collector space, a tube having an open end at a point adjacent the pen nibs and passing all the way through the three outermost, widest bores, each of said bores being large enough to leave an ink space around the tube said tube being xed within the innermost narrowest bore, said tube having transverse holes therein closely adjacent the bottom of the third narrowest bore, a tube of iiexible material such as rubber extending from the inner end of the last ,mentioned tube through the inner end of the hood to the ink reservoir, an air and ink tube arranged in two sections having their adjacent ends positioned in spaced Irelation within said exible tube, a pair of diametrically spaced studs carried by the hood so that the studs are over the section of said exible tube adjacent the junction of said ends of the air and ink tube sections and means for moving said studs toward one another to compress said ilexible tube to close the same, said studs normally occupying a position far enough rapart to allow the iiexibility of the tube to move said studs back to normal position.

2. A fountain pen as set forth in claim 1 further defined in that said means for moving the rsaid .studs comprises a rotatable ring litting around the hood adjacent the inner end of the ink reservoir, the ring having a pair of oppositely disposed inner recesses to receive the outer ends of said studs whereby the tiexible tube will then more the outer ends of the studs into the recesses when the ring is turned to align said recesses with said stud as and for the purpose 'described and further characterized in that when the ring is turned so as to force the studs out of said recesses the studs will compress the tlexible tube so as to prevent any ink or air to pass therethrough.

3. A fountain pen as set forth in claim l further defined in that designation characters are fixed on the ring and hood to tell when the air and ink can or cannot iiow from the ink reservoir to the collector spaces at the pen end.

4. A fountain pen having a hood with a plurality of bores therein of different lengths and arranged in tandem alignment in order of the diameter of the bores lwith the widest bore outermost, a pen point having a shank located in a bore in the hood next to the widest bore, va tube having a pointed opening positioned close to the pen nibs and extending through a bore in the hood of larger vdiameter than itself to a point near the inner extremity of the hood where it tits tightly into the hood, said tube having a plurality of transverse holes closely adjacent and before the point where it enters a tight fitting bore inthe hood, the length and diameter of al1 of these bores with respect to the diameter of the parts fitting in them being proportioned so capillarity and gravity acting .on the ink will balance each other to give the maximum writing efficiency, a two part air and ink tube extending from a point closely adjacent-the pen nibs to a point near the inner free end of the reservoir, said two parts being joined at the inner end of the hood by a Vflexible hollow coupling, and means carried by the hood for acting on the coupling to close it as and for the purpose described.

'5. A fountain pen as cleined in claim 4 further dened in that said means includes a pair of oppositely positioned studs slidably carried by the hood adjacent its inner end together with a ring carried externally by the hood for acting on the studs to cause them to act onthe flexible coupling to close and later when desired, .the ring is moved to allow the studs to be moved by the flexibility of the coupling to move the studs to open position.

6. A fountain pen as dened to claim 4 further `defined in that the bores are arranged to form spaces in the hood thereby providing a pen point ink collector which in `filling this collector as described with the pen point up, the said spaces are filled with ink in series one .after the other but when vthe pen point is in writing position point down, said spaces feed ink to the pen point in parallel as and for the purposes described.

7. A fountain pen as ldeined in claim 4 further defined in that the bores form spaces in the hood thereby providing a pen point ink collector, the longest bore being about one and a half inches and having a radial length of about .O10 of an inch, thereby providing substantially a perfect balance at the pen point regardless of the speed of writing or pressure of the pen point on the paper.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,161,123 Gilbert Nov. 23, 1915 1,523,904 Sato Y lan. 20, 1925 2,304,229 Andrews Dec. il, v1942 2,602,424 Morgan July 8, 1952 2,713,848 Miessner July 26, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 17,809 Great Britain 1906 445,423 Italy Feb. ,17, 1,949 983,759 `France June 27, 1,951 

